Wednesday, June 3, 2020

Rooting For Each Other

2020 has been a year.

As everyone is still reeling from the quarantines and shelter in place from Covid-19, and navigating the reopening of the country and the "safer at home" rulings, our nation is swept with visuals of George Floyd's murder. This happening on video and at the hands of law enforcement officers has sent people into a tail spin. As I'm writing this (on Sunday, May 31st), riots are happening in a number of cities, and social media is blowing up.

The nature and purpose of GTG is not to get political. However, over the past decade of writing it, I've been struck that seemingly apolitical, non-partisan concepts (like environmentalism) have indeed become political issues. Yet, it was upon my social media scroll that I found two things that have struck me that I feel compelled to share.

One was my daily read of political historian Heather Cox Richardson, who makes it her job to look at the political news of the day through a historical lens. One thing she said was that while the riots are occurring, we only have a window into the events. We don't actually know who is rioting nor what their agenda is in many of these cities. The riots might stem from angered African American citizens who feel their voices have not been heard any other way. It could be extremist groups (from either the radical left ANTIFA or the radical right white supremacists) going in to make their point or counterpoint. It even could be opportunists taking advantage of the mayhem. In some areas, journalists are even being attacked by local authority. It certainly could be a combination of any and all of the above. We do not yet have the full picture or the full perspective--a vital point. But it shows the context certainly changes given the perspective. Time will indeed tell.

The other thing I happened on was this photo in a post from Hands Free Revolution's Facebook page. It is what served as the ultimate inspiration for this post. I think it also speaks to those of us who both believe in God or the overarching spiritualness of nature/Mother Earth.

This is where my heart is in this situation, and leads me to want to delve into learning more about Cleo Wade and her writing. You can find more of her inspiration on her websiteher Instagram, or her books "Heart Talk: Poetic Wisdom for a Better Life" or "Where to Begin: A Small Book About Your Power to Create Big Change in Our Crazy World."

If we have learned nothing in this quarantine, it should be that we are here for each other, and we are better with each other. We all need to be rooting for each other, supporting each other, and standing up for each other. In doing so we have a healthier garden, community, nation, world, and planet. Perhaps too, a more just world.

May we all do something today, to support each other--on either the small or the large scale.


Photos from https://www.aqua.org/Connect/Oceans-A-to-Z/m-mangrove and https://www.facebook.com/TheHandsFreeRevolution/photos/a.149731118410856/3213028792081058/?type=3&theater

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